Geared as it is to the senior set, Boynton Beach Club probably makes more commercial sense as a theatrical musical than a feature film. But based on the developmental reading at Boynton’s Park Vista Theatre this weekend, the authors seem stumped for much dramatic justification for the 2006 movie’s transition to the stage. With a so-so score by Ned Paul Ginsburg and Michael … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2012
Seraphic Fire’s astonishing Bach not to be missed
Even if Seraphic Fire does not win either of the Grammy Awards it is being considered for Sunday, the performances the concert choir is giving this week of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor are nothing less than a milestone in South Florida culture. Not everything was perfect Friday night at All Saints Episcopal in Fort Lauderdale for the first of the three performances of the Mass, … [Read more...]
Song of destiny? Seraphic Fire awaits Grammy results
By the time the last notes of J.S. Bach’s great B minor Mass have sounded at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton on Sunday afternoon, the audience will know whether it has been listening to a Grammy-winning ensemble. Seraphic Fire, a concert choir founded 10 years ago in South Miami, is one of the few local classical ensembles to have been honored with Grammy nods. … [Read more...]
Szot’s cabaret show lovely and well-planned, but a little distant
Although the boundary between the opera and musical theater worlds can be ambiguous, few opera singers have crossed over to success in musicals. One who certainly has is Brazilian-born baritone Paulo Szot, 2008 Tony Award winner in the expansive revival of South Pacific. With one crossover under his belt, he has been afforded the opportunity to make a similar mark in the … [Read more...]
Despite new blindness, jazz guitarist Golub remains thankful
When New York City-based guitarist Jeff Golub takes the stage Saturday to close out the International Polo Club's two-day Saddle Up for JazzFest Wellington event, much about the experience will be familiar to him. As he has for more than 35 years, the 56-year-old guitarist will hear the ebbs and flows within the music, feel the power surge from his electric instrument through … [Read more...]
Pianist Cohen most impressive in Four Arts recital
One of the best versions of the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations I’ve ever heard came courtesy of a YouTube video featuring a German cellist whom I’d never heard of, and whose career turned out to be largely in academia. The classical music world has many excellent players like that, artists who have low public profiles but a stellar record of accomplishment. That’s one of the … [Read more...]
Opera’s Szot scratches Broadway itch in Royal Room engagement
The Colony Hotel’s Royal Room has presented some enchanted evenings in its ten years as a cabaret venue, but probably never more so than with its current showcase of Paulo Szot, the Tony Award-winning star of the 2008 revival of South Pacific. An opera singer by training and profession, Szot long harbored a desire to appear in a Broadway musical. “I never tried, but it was a … [Read more...]
The View From Home 35: New releases and notable screenings, Feb. 7-29
There are many, many people who would disagree with me (I’m marrying one of them), but I can think of no better way to spend 195 minutes than watching a documentary on Woody Allen. I’m what you might call a Woody Allen fanboy – an apologist, even. I will go on record appreciating his bombs as well as his critical successes (well, most of them, anyway – Cassandra’s Dream and … [Read more...]
Tyrrell returns to the field with new Arts Garage series
Do not expect the high level of production values that Lou Tyrrell, founding producing director of the late, lamented Florida Stage, delivered with regularity at Manalapan and at the Kravis Center, when he unveils his new venture -- The Theatre at Arts Garage -- this Tuesday night. Still, his commitment to American playwrights and to developing new work for the stage will be … [Read more...]
The art of anxiety: Dana Schutz’s disturbing visions
If ever it could be said of a person that she lives in her own imaginary world, American painter Dana Schutz would be that person. A 10-year survey of her work, Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels, is currently on view at the Miami Art Museum until Feb. 26. The exhibit contains 30 paintings and 12 drawings. At first glance, the work seems colorful, cheerful even. However, … [Read more...]